


Amends

by sweetcarolanne



Category: Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Future Fic, Hopeful Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Reunions, Romance, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 05:22:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11177940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: "What if I could give back to you something you once treasured, something that you believed was lost to you forever? What if I could undo at least a fraction of the harm that I have caused?”





	Amends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Trismegistus (Lebateleur)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lebateleur/gifts).



> Dear recipient, I enjoyed creating this for you and hope it is something like what you wanted!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters and am making no money from this story.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta who wishes to remain anonymous.

“I am grateful that you did not refuse to see me, Louis.”

It had been far too long since Armand had stood with his former beloved in such an intimate manner. Close together, as if they were still lovers and had never parted, with a space between them that seemed as insubstantial as a single mortal breath. Neither vampire spoke, yet the silence was alive with the questions yet to be asked. And also with a love that had never faded completely despite a lingering aura of mistrust and all the events that had transpired so long ago.

Their eyes were locked, and their thoughts open to each other as they had been in happier times. Armand had hardly dared to hope that Louis would come to him when he first began to send forth a silent call each night, one even more potent than the one he used to lure humans who secretly wished for the gentle death only he could bring them. Yet here he was, that expressive gaze of his conveying more than words, or even conscious thought, could ever do. Asking what was obviously far too painful to say out loud.

Why had Armand walked away from Louis when his love was still so intense that to do so almost tore him apart from within? And even more importantly, why had he decided to come back? And why now?

“I knew that the time was right, and that finally, you would understand.”

Armand’s familiar tones brought the brief flicker of an almost human smile to Louis’s face, but it was swiftly gone again before Armand could return it with a warm one of his own.

“You broke my heart after all that you took from me and made me suffer, Armand. Almost everything you told me from the start was fabrication, and you went on to try to bind me to you with more falsehoods. I understand some of your reasons now, and I do not hate you, but I am not sure if I can trust you after all that you have done to me.”

Armand sighed softly, his eternally young face looking even more deceptively angelic than ever before, and reached out to touch Louis’s cheek, still cold because he had not yet fed enough that night.

“I was wrong to do so – and I have no excuse save the jealousy I felt. I was jealous not only of your precious little one, but of he who made you also and all that you shared before you even knew that I existed. I wanted to possess you utterly – body, mind and spirit, to live with you and love you in a more fulfilling way than I ever had with any previous companion. That passion inside you that attracted me to you from the very beginning, the thirst for knowledge that seemed unquenchable – I wanted to keep all of that for myself. I believed that comforting you in a time of loss would make you mine completely, but instead I killed everything about you that I loved. Forgiveness, I know, is far too much for me to ever expect.”

Armand pulled away from Louis, and gave a small shudder that made him seem fragile and vulnerable for a moment, more like one of his own intended victims than an ancient and powerful vampire.

“I did not intend to leave you forever, Louis. Nor did I blame you for the way you treated me. But once I had turned my back, I knew that I could not return to you. Not right then, at least.”

An agonized expression marred Armand’s exquisite features for a moment, and he was lost for words as the memories of that fateful night almost overcame him. Every part of him had longed to remain with Louis, but once his feet had started upon their inexorable path, he found he could not turn himself at will and make his way back to Louis’s side. Not even to retrieve his coffin, that vital shelter from the sun that had been the one constant of his immortality for so many years.

Leaving Louis had nearly destroyed Armand, but for the sake of his own sanity, he had felt compelled to go. 

Louis shook his head as if in irritation, yet kept his facial expression compassionate and patient as he asked, “If you do not expect me to forgive you, why did you seek me out? Are you wanting me to absolve you as a priest would, to give you some sort of unholy blessing and then bid you to go forth and sin no more?”

He stepped further away from Armand and turned as if he intended to leave, but Armand was at his side at a moment and laid a strong and steady hand upon his arm.

“My sins are far too many for anyone to absolve, priest or not,” Armand’s still sensual and seductive voice whispered in Louis’s ear. “Even if you choose to abandon me after this, even if you decide you can never love me again, I want to show you that I am sincere in my desire to make amends. What if I could give back to you something you once treasured, something that you believed was lost to you forever? What if I could undo at least a fraction of the harm that I have caused?”

Louis stood stock-still, his face now changing to a look of pure and utter disbelief. “Stop talking in riddles, Armand – this is not like you at all. What on earth do you mean by ‘amends’?”

“I will not tell you – but I am going to show you,” Armand told him in the same hushed voice, and before Louis could protest, he had slipped away like a shadow into the darkness, and the puzzled and frustrated Louis had no other choice than to follow him.

When Armand finally stopped, both vampires were standing in front of a stately old-fashioned house with large windows in the front. The velvet curtains were drawn back and the room was ablaze with electric light, revealing everything within. Louis froze before the glass panes with a gasp, unable to believe what he was seeing with his very own eyes.

“But I saw the bloodstained dress, the golden hair... and the ashes!”

“Such illusions are easy to create if one has sufficient power. I did not wish to kill her, but to make you mine completely, you needed to believe that she was gone,” Armand said softly. “And it was the only way to shield her from Lestat. I could not save the companion you had made for her, but I managed to find for her another one – someone who can protect her from all threats and keep her strong with healing blood when required to. One of the many lies I told you, I regret to say, was that I was the oldest vampire I knew of in the world. She who sits inside before us now is older than I by many centuries.”

The dark-haired woman seated nearest the window sensed their presence first, and looked in their direction with eyes that were filled with the wisdom of long-forgotten times, belying the youthful appearance of her smooth and unlined face. She turned to another person who had only just entered through a nearby doorway, and beckoned excitedly.

“Niamh? What is it?” 

Louis gasped again as his preternatural hearing recognized the sound of the second female occupant’s voice. It had the delicate, sweet echoes of a small silver bell, and as the slender figure stepped fully into the light there could be no doubt at all as to who he was seeing.

The girl was wearing a Hello Kitty T-shirt and blue jeans, as any modern youngster might wear – a far cry from the elaborate silks and lace she had loved in the past. But Louis knew unmistakably who she was even before she turned her face in his direction. She was the same child he had cradled so lovingly in his arms and cherished as his own daughter.

She was his Claudia.

He turned to Armand, who nodded slowly.

“I believe it is time for a long overdue reunion.”

Armand reached out towards Louis, clasping his hand in a gesture that expressed all the tender feelings he did not yet dare to speak aloud. With his other hand, he reached out to tap upon the door.

Louis, to his relief, did not flinch or move away. Here, at last, there was more than the faintest hope for love to flourish once again.


End file.
